“The Rose That Grew From Concrete” By: Tupac Shakur Presenta(on By: Brianna Winn Winn Period 1 February 14, 2012 ArFst Biography •  Born in 1971 / Died in 1996 •  American rapper and actor •  Themes of most of his songs: violence and hardship in inner ciFes, racism, social problems •  Mom and aunt involved in the Black Panthers •  Sold over 75 million albums and starred in hit movies such as Juice (1992), PoeFc JusFce (1993), and Above the Rim (1994) Thesis Statement In the poem “The Rose That Grew From Concrete,” Tupac Shakur uses symbolism, personificaFon, and paradoxes to show that people who come from nothing can sFll succeed if they believe in themselves. QuesFons •  What does the rose symbolize? •  What does the concrete symbolize? •  What does the rose growing from the concrete symbolize? “The Rose that Grew from Concrete” Tupac Shakur the rose that grew Did you hear about from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared. Symbolism •  DefiniFon: A person, place, or thing that stands for something other than itself •  Examples: –  Rose –  Concrete •  QuesFons: –  Why a rose? What comes to mind when you think of a rose? –  Why concrete? What comes to mind when you think of concrete? PersonificaFon •  DefiniFon: When inanimate objects take on human traits •  Examples: –  “It learned to walk without having feet” –  “Keeping it’s dreams” –  “It learned to breathe fresh air” •  QuesFons: –  What does the “it” stand for? –  What are the human acFons that “it” performs? Paradox •  DefiniFon: A contradictory statement that actually has an element of truth •  Example: “Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.” (Can’t walk without feet) •  Meaning: You can sFll survive and succeed even though you have no foundaFon (come from nothing) “You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months over-­‐analyzing a situaFon; trying to put the pieces together, jusFfying what could’ve, would’ve happened . . . Or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.” -­‐Tupac